Poll: Telecaster body wood - Alder, Ash or it doesn’t matter?

[EasTXan]

My plywood and pine tele's sound like....other tele's with the same pickups.

 

[johnh]

I absolutely think it does Matter. But I cant say I prefer one over the other. I think that an ash Bodied tele with a maple neck is wonderful. But an alder bodied, rosewood board tele is equally wonderful imo. But of course, it’s a completely different animal.

 

[noisebloom]

I prefer ash, but for me it comes down to weight. I've done a couple of sub-7 lb. partscasters in swamp ash that I'm really happy with. For my Tele I wanted a swamp ash body with a maple neck, so I was going for a brighter, snappier, old-school sound--and that's what it does.

 

[GenoBluzGtr]

I find that I prefer Ash with a Maple fingerboard and Alder with a Rosewood or ebony board. The look of Ash is my favorite, too.

I find that with Ash, I get more "snap" and "pop" and with Alder, it mellows out a bit, but more balanced sound. VERT subtle, though and any amount of drive can kinda hide those properties. Played clean, or unplugged, though and you can hear it.

 

[Flogger59]

I prefer alder with drive.

 

[Ron Kirn]

I absolutely think it does Matter. But I cant say I prefer one over the other. I think that an ash Bodied tele with a maple neck is wonderful. But an alder bodied, rosewood board tele is equally wonderful imo. But of course, it’s a completely different animal.

I do believe we have a burgeoning Politician amongst us ..

Equivocate on...

r

 

[hunter]

I was a true believer in ash for telecasters. Until I got one in alder.

 

[Hippy Dippy Weatherman]

If you are comparing them as "tone wood" then it has a very insignificant difference. Noone could tell the difference in a blind test, they'd just be guessing.

 

[AaeCee]

Noone could tell the difference in a blind test ...

Who's Noone? Whoever he is, he sure must have great ears!



Just havin' a bit of fun, HDW.

 

[Tag]

Ash seems more mid scooped. Alder more even.